Better Late Than Never
by isthisarealworld
Summary: Katie and Fred can't figure out why things keep happening between them. Things that shouldn't happen between 'just friends'.
1. Colds are Contagious

Thump. Katie Bell's eyes shot open as she was hit in the face by something soft and fluffy. Thump. This one narrowly missed her head, instead hitting the pillow beside her. Katie sat upright quickly to locate her attacker, but instantly relaxed when she spotted her best friend, Angelina looking at her guiltily with a pillow in her hand.  
>'You're losing your touch Ange. That last one missed.' Katie smiled 'What will our dear captain have to say abo-' Katie was cut off as she was forced to dive sideways to avoid being hit by another pillow.<br>'Speaking of our dear captain' Angelina replied innocently. 'The boys – Fred, George and Oliver- have invited us to Hogsmeade today and Alicia has been hoping to get some alone time with Oliver so she was wondering if you could distract Fred – or 'keep him company' as she put it.'  
>'What about George?'<br>'I'm sure I can take care of that' Angelina winked at her.  
>'I see, well as much as I would love to go and see you two flirt shamelessly I have a cold and I really don't feel up to it.'<br>'Please Katie' Angelina begged. 'I'll be your best friend.'  
>'You already are, Ange'<br>'Fine then, how about a bar of Honeydukes' finest chocolate?'  
>'Make it three and we have a deal'<br>'Two?'  
>'Fine' Katie agreed grudgingly, and hurried off to change.<p>

Twenty minutes later Katie found herself outside the entrance to Hogwarts as she for her name to be checked off. As they passed a rather grumpy looking Filch and made towards Hogsmeade Angelina and George and Alicia and Oliver branched off ahead slightly, leaving her alone with Fred. She tried to make light conversation with him but found herself constantly interrupted by gangs of girls giggling as they passed Fred and those who knew him often waving 'hi'. Penelope Clearwater even stopped and flirted with him for a good couple of minutes before Fred excused himself. Although Katie could see why they found Fred attractive, he was undoubtedly handsome and mischievously exciting, she thought the way they were all acting was silly and demeaning. Some of them even had the cheek to cast them jealous looks.

Once they finally reached Hogsmeade Oliver suggested they visit Spintwitches, the sports shop, to which Alicia agreed wholeheartedly. The others weren't so keen though, knowing how Oliver was around anything Quidditch related. George then suggested Zonko's to which, unsurprisingly, Angelina seconded right away. Fred, on the other hand, declined, saying that he had no money, making it a cruel form of torture. After a meaningful look from Angelina, Katie also declined; giving the excuse it would be unfair to leave Fred on his own. So they made plans to meet and The Three Broomsticks and set off in their own directions.  
>'The Shrieking Shack?' Fred suggested after the others had left.<br>'The Shrieking Shack' Katie agreed and they started off at a steady walk in companionable silence. When they reached the shack Katie found herself in awe, as she always was, of the sheer eeriness of the shack. **Bam**. Katie was broken out of her trance by a snowball in the side of the face, courtesy of Fred. Katie briefly wondered what it was with people throwing things at her face today before her competitive instincts kicked in and she dived behind a tree and started stockpiling snowballs. Soon enough a small scale snowball war had commenced and the next fifteen minutes were filled with happy cheers whenever a snowball hit home and squeals whenever one hit in the head or face. But too soon Katie was out of snowballs and Fred still had a substantial amount. Not wanting to admit defeat Katie hurled herself from her hiding place, straight and Fred. Taken by surprise he was knocked backwards and they found themselves rolling down the hill, a tangle of arms and legs. When they reached the bottom the stopped suddenly and for one heart stopping second, Katie found herself face to face with Fred, whom she was lying on top of, before his lips were on hers and, unsure of who leant in first. Katie briefly found herself enjoying the sensations of being so close to Fred, of their lips touching, before she came to her senses. She was kissing Fred! But she didn't even fancy Fred! They were just friends! At the same time they both pulled away and she noticed the confused and slightly anxious look on his face that must have been identical to hers before quickly rolling off of him and hurriedly standing up. Katie used the excuse of brushing snow off of her clothes to wait for the red tinge that had overtaken her face to subside. When she felt calm enough she turned back to Fred and gave him a small, hesitant smile. He returned the smile before asking –  
>'Should we head back to The Three Broomsticks now? The others should be done but the time we get back.' Katie inclined her head and they started to walk back, making small talk and sticking to safe subjects. No mention of what happened passed their lips but they both kept a decidedly large distance from each other.<p>

The rest of the trip passed without incident and they stuck strictly to neutral conversation topics, not even acknowledging the kiss had ever happened.

That evening, as Katie sat down on her bed, Angelina threw her the promised chocolate before launching into a recap of her afternoon and an analysis of every word George had said. Katie tried to pay attention but found herself zoning out to thoughts of her afternoon.  
>'So, how was your afternoon Katie?' Katie snapped out of her daydream guiltily.<br>'Huh? Oh, it was fine.' Katie replied before busying herself with her chocolate.

The next day Katie noted with a smile that Fred Weasley had a cold.

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><p><strong>How'd I do? I find that I'm my most creative at night, unfortuately that is when my grammarspelling/punctuation skills are at their worst so I appologise for those. Feel free to review, good or bad. Both are helpful as long as it's constructive.**


	2. The 'handholding incident'

Several mornings later, after once again being woken a stupid-o'clock in the morning by Angelina sneaking in after a late night snogging session with George, Katie decided it was high time she found herself a boyfriend. After some careful thought the idea came to her that she should make a list of the ideal boyfriend, that way she would find that person who would be her perfect match, after all she couldn't settle for just anyone. And so the next twenty minutes whilst Angelina was in the bathroom doing god knows what, she started to compile her list.

1. He should be a gentleman  
>2. He should have a good sense of humour<br>3. He should be good looking  
>4. He should be smart<br>5. He should like quidditch

It wasn't a particularly long or detailed list however Katie was sure that the guy who fitted these criteria would be perfect for her. So Katie tucked the list into her pocket and made her way to breakfast determined to find a potential before the day was out.

Katie took her usual seat next to Angelina and immediately started to scan the room for people who might fit her list. She almost instantly spotted Lee Jordan sat next to Fred. 'Well he's reasonably good looking obviously likes quidditch and from the way Fred's laughing uncontrollably one can assume he's funny too' she considered. It seemed she had already found someone who could be a potential. All she had to do now was test the criteria. And perfect timing, he and George had just got up to leave. Katie said a quick goodbye to Angelina and hurried to catch them up. Then, just as she passed Lee she 'accidentally' tripped over her own feet and fell to the floor.  
>"Send us a postcard next time Katie" Lee smirked.' Maybe not Lee then' Katie thought as Fred helped her up. It wasn't the most gentlemanly thing to laugh at a girl on the floor. So Katie gave Fred a grateful smile and headed off to charms, hoping next time would go a little better and resolving not to fall on her face for a guy again.<p>

As Katie turned into the second floor corridor on her way to charms she noticed Cedric Diggory walking by himself. This was a strange occurrence since he had gone everywhere followed by a gang of swooning girls after his name had been pulled out of the tri-wizard cup. Katie quickly scanned though her list in her head, he was undoubtedly good looking, definitely smart (they were in the same advanced charms class) and he usually played on the Hufflepuff quidditch team. So that was three down and it was time to test the rest. She walked quickly until she was just behind him then whispered "diffindo". Her bag ripped and all of her books crashed to the floor with a loud bang and immediately Cedric turned to help her. At this point Cedric was looking mood and more promising.  
>"I best carry these to charms for you' he said whilst scooping up her books and quill "we don't want any more accidents". Unfortunately Katie's 'accident' had made them late to charms; however Professor Flitwick made them sit together at the front. It seemed the world was on Katie's side today. Charms only made Cedric appear more perfect in Katie's eyes and the only downside Katie could find, that he didn't have much of a rebellious streak, she was sure she could change in time. But things changed at the lesson ended. As soon as they were dismissed Cedric ran off calling "Sorry Katie I have to meet my girlfriend" over his shoulder. Girlfriend! Damn, she knew he was too good to be true.<p>

Katie decided she didn't feel like potions after that and headed off to the common room instead, ready to collapse into the best armchair by the fire. However when she got there someone else was already in her spot.  
>"Fred? What are you doing here?" She asked.<br>"I didn't feel like being subjected to George and Angelina's frankly horrific displays of affection any more". Katie collapsed into the chair opposite.  
>"At least they won't be alone forever. At least their happy" This gained a questioning look from Fred. "I decided it was time I found a boyfriend" She explained "so I made a list and tried to find the perfect guy. But Lee wasn't a gentleman and Cedric has a girlfriend and everything's rubbish and I'm lonely and now I'm going to be alone forever!" she said in one long breath.<br>"Don't you think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself? You can't expect to find a boyfriend from a list Kates especially not in one morning. But if you are so desperate to find someone why don't you try making some friends instead. After all, all good relationships stem from strong friendships. Look and George and Angelina. But try not to stress; any guy would be lucky to have you." Fred's logical and calm mind was one of the reasons she liked him so much. "Look at that, it's time for lunch" Fred said before grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the Portrait Hole and down towards the Great Hall. That boys mind was always on food. However on the way down Katie noticed something was up. Most of the older girls they passed scowled at her before turning to their friends and whispering frantically. Katie reached up to see if there was anything on her face and realised what the problem was, her and Fred were still holding hands. The movement must have made him realise too as they both let go at the same time. Neither of them mentioned what happened but if anyone had been looking closely it would have been apparent that they sat further apart than usual at lunch.

As Katie saw it the 'hand-holding incident', as she had dubbed it, was just another accident. However as Fred walked her to her next lesson she couldn't help but think about how their hands fitted together perfectly.


	3. Not So Great First Dates

Better late Than Never Chapter 3

It was the next day and Katie was on her way to quidditch practice when she was stopped by none other than Susan Bones.

"I heard you and Fred Weasley are an item" Susan shot at her almost venomously. "Everyone's talking about it" Everyone? This wasn't good, Katie thought, it's time for some damage control.

"Fred and I are not together," she insisted "We're both single"

With this Susan's face lit up.

"Oh really, so he's free this Saturday then? I'll meet him here at eleven for our date" And with that she turned on her heel and flounced off. Now, Katie was certain Fred didn't want to go on a date with someone like that, but if she wanted the rumours to go away she needed him to.

Back in the common room Fred was relaxing by the fire when Katie approached him with the 'I want something' look on her face.

"I know we're supposed to be going to Hogsmeade together Saturday but I can't make it so I've set you up on a surprise date." She said. Fred looked at her sceptically,

"Why can't you go?" Ah, Katie hadn't thought about that.

"I've, um... I've got a date, with..." She scanned the room frantically, stopping at the only half decent looking boy in the room. "With Dean Thomas", and I'm going to talk to him about it now actually.

And with that she made her quick escape ignoring Fred as he called "Who's my date with?" and congratulating herself on the quick save.

So at eleven o'clock on Saturday morning Katie and Fred made their way down to the entrance hall to meet their dates. Katie had got Dean to go on a date with her, and honestly it hadn't taken much convincing on her part.

As soon as she met Dean, Katie made her escape, not wanting to face Fred after he realised she'd set him up with Susan Bones.

Katie's date with Dean actually went really well, and he met all of the requirements on her list. Not that she still had that list or anything. Dean was smart and fun and the conversation didn't lull once.

However things took a turn for the worse on the way back. They were walking along the path when Susan stormed past, pushing Katie out of the way as she went. The push took her by surprise and caused Katie to fall, twisting her ankle on the way.

Dean rushed to help her up but she found there was no way she could stand on it.

"Don't worry about it" he said "I'll fix it"

Now, Katie knew from experience that letting anyone but Madame Promphrey try and heal her usually didn't end well but before she could protest Dean had already whipped his wand out. And sure enough, instead of the spell relieving the pain her ankle swelled to three times its normal size.

Luckily for Katie at this moment Fred appeared. He took one look at her massive ankle and Dean's panicked expression then swept her up into his arms and strode off towards the castle.

Katie smiled at him gratefully before asking "how did your date go?" to distract herself from the throbbing pain. She listened as Fred explained how Susan had first introduced him as her future husband and then started picking out baby names.

"So I kinda told her I was desperately in love with you to get her off my back" He said guiltily.

"Fred! What about my boyfriend plan? If this gets out it'll be ruined!" She exclaimed but Fred just winked at her and said "Sorry about that, but you're right, who would want to compete with these dashing good looks."

At this point Katie would usually have hit him but she refrained in case he dropped her and resorted to poking her tongue out at him just as they reached the castle.

Later that night Katie and Fred sat in the hospital wing eating a big bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and talking about her boyfriend plan.

"How about you Fred?" Katie said suddenly, "What would your perfect girlfriend be like?"

"She would have to be kind and but with a sense of humour, and smart but still pretty, and obviously she's got to love quidditch."

"Wow Fred, it's like we're after the same person" Katie laughed.

"Yeah," Fred replied, "and we know they're not Susan bones or Dean Thomas!"

And as Katie lead in bed that night she couldn't help but feel glad that Fred's date didn't go well.

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><p><strong>Your reviews make my day, please continue! I hope you like it! :)<strong>


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